


Idiot

by roseygal99



Series: BatFam Angsty/Whumpy Stuff [3]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Super Sons (Comics), Superman - All Media Types
Genre: Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-29
Updated: 2020-10-29
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:02:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27258385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roseygal99/pseuds/roseygal99
Summary: Jonathan Kent saves his best friend whether he asks for it or not.
Series: BatFam Angsty/Whumpy Stuff [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2049657
Comments: 3
Kudos: 69





	Idiot

The streetlight drenched Damian in a shower of gold. It was rare for him to make himself so visible – typically he was better served by the darkness – but tonight he made an exception. Up above, storm clouds swirled and flashed, hanging thick and low over the city.

Slumped into Damian’s side, was Jonathan Kent. His skin was pale, even in the golden light; a sickly sheen coated his brow. And his eyes fluttered as he wavered on the edge of consciousness. Damian studied the slash in Jonathan’s shoulder as it pulsed faintly with a radioactive glow.

 _Idiot_.

It was the first thing that came to mind every time Damian looked at him.

_Absolute idiot._

An army of kryptonite androids. Why the hell would Jonathan of all people come within a hundred miles of that place?

Especially since Damian had had it under control.

“I told you…” Jonathan rasped, “I’m sorry…”

Damian blinked, startled. He glanced over and found Jonathan looking up at him blearily.

“You’re… still pissed… I can see it… on your face.”

Damian scoffed, looking away. “Just shut up. Save your strength.”

“It… won’t make a difference.”

“Shut. Up.” Damian stared up at the sky, searching the dark clouds.

“They’re not… coming…”

“What?”

“The League...” Jonathan’s breaths came in shallow gasps.

“What do you mean they’re not coming?”

“They’re… off planet. I heard… my dad talking about it this morning.”

Damian hissed a curse. Jonathan was right. His father had mentioned something about an off planet mission earlier that week. He’d completely forgotten.

_What now?_

Damian looked around. Jonathan needed help fast, but they were nowhere near any type of medical center. Even further from any place that had the kind of supplies they’d need to work on a Kryptonian.

Damian guessed they had three, maybe five minutes before Jonathan lost consciousness. Ten before he was gone altogether.

“Your heart… is racing,” Jonathan murmured. “I thought you… were supposed to be the calm one.”

“Tell me you’re not making jokes right now.”

Jonathan chuckled drily, shoving himself upright and breaking free from Damian’s grasp.

“What are you–”

“It’s okay.” He swayed on his feet. Damian reached to catch him but Jonathan held up a hand. “I’ll… take us to get help.”

“More jokes. How amusing.”

“I’m serious.”

“You can barely stand.”

“True. But flying is like way easier anyway.” Jonathan’s body was trembling. Even now Damian could see how much energy it was costing him just to stand, but as he searched his friend’s eyes, he found nothing but endless confidence and unwavering optimism.

 _Idiot_.

“Forget it,” Damian said. “If you exert yourself like that you’ll die.”

“But if I don’t do anything then you’ll die.”

“What are you–” As if on cue, a lancing pain ripped through Damian’s ribs. His vision blurred for a few seconds as he caught his breath. Damian gently touched his side.

His hand came away bloody.

“You’re bleeding out. Mostly internal. You don’t… have much time,” Jonathan explained.

“You’re one to talk.” But Jonathan was right. Already Damian was losing feeling in his hands and feet. The adrenaline. He hadn’t even realized he’d been hit.

_Damn it._

“So that’s it then,” Jonathan said. “We’re going… to the hospital.”

“The hospital? They can’t do anything for you there. We need to get to the cave.”

Jonathan was exasperated. “You need… real doctors…! Alfred won’t be… enough to help you.”

“Will you stop worrying about me and worry about yourself for a change? That’s why we’re in this mess to begin with!” Damian shouted, then instantly regretted it, groaning and clutching his side.

“How many times… do I have to say… I’m sorry?”

"Just forget it. We’re going to the cave. End of story.”

The two injured boys stared each other down, each sizing the other up.

“Fine,” Jonathan conceded, holding out his hands. Damian took them, and with a pained grunt, Jonathan took off into the air.

Damian had reluctantly flown with Jonathan a few times before. He hated the feeling of being carried, but he couldn’t deny Jonathan’s speed and agility in the air. This time, however, was different. Jonathan dipped and swerved clumsily; he was panting as if he were running a marathon. Damian found himself running scenarios through his mind for what to do in case they started to fall out of the sky.

As they swooped towards a hospital, Damian’s eyes flew wide. “God dammit, Kent! I said the cave! The cave!” He kicked impotently at the air like a child, finally throwing a glare up towards Jonathan only to find the boy’s eyes drifting shut.

“Kent? Jonathan? Jona–!”

The last ten feet were a free fall, spilling the two of them onto the doorstep of the emergency room. Damian groaned and rolled over, coughing up a mouthful of blood. Jonathan laid lifeless.

Damian’s heart sank as he struggled to his feet, heaved Jonathan onto his shoulder, and dragged the two of them into the hospital.

“Help!” he shouted, making his way towards the receptionist. He could no longer feel the floor beneath his feet. Each step was a stumble. “Please! I…” Suddenly the world swirled and drop out from under him entirely. His vision faded.

And all he knew was darkness.

***

When Damian woke up, it was with a bitter taste in his mouth as if he’d been sucking on pennies all night. A nurse changing his IV bag glanced his way and smiled.

“There he is,” she said.

Damian sat up and winced.

“Careful,” she urged. “Your stitches are still– what are you doing?”

Damian had tossed the covers aside and was already working his way to his feet.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. You shouldn’t be walking just yet.”

“Where’s Kent?”

“You need to get back in bed.”

“Jonathan Kent. Where is he?”

“I understand that you’re concerned about your friend, but–”

Damian began to slide past her, his steps slow and deliberate. She grabbed his wrist.

“Please, Damian. You need to get back in bed.”

Damian whipped his head back to look her dead in the eye. The woman froze.

“I’d let him go, if I were you.” Dick Grayson was posted up in the doorway. “That is, if you wanna keep the arm.”

The nurse released him and took a step back.

Damian turned to face Dick. “Where?”

“C’mon.”

The two of them made their way out into the hall, Damian refusing Dick’s help.

“I’m guessing you already know this," Dick explained slowly, "but Jon... he was in pretty rough shape when you two got here.”

“Yes.”

“And he’s half Kryptonian so they don’t exactly have the things you need to operate on people like him just lying around. That paired with the fact that the blade had shattered on impact, basically filling his arm with shards of Kryptonite–”

Damian stopped in his tracks, his eyes glued to the floor. “Please. Just tell me where he is.”

Dick nodded and led Damian to a quiet room at the back of the hospital. The viewing room. Damian stared at the closed door, unable to move, to think. He felt lightheaded, as if he were watching himself from a million miles away.

“If you need a second–”

“No.” Damian had just begun to push open the door when he was slammed backwards by something moving at a blinding speed.

The force knocked him to the ground and he found himself staring up at Jonathan’s puppy-like face.

“You’re okay!” Jonathan shouted.

Damian blinked up at the boy straddling his chest, completely lost and vaguely aware that at least five of his stitches had just opened. Jonathan heaved Damian up onto his feet with one hand, the other arm in a sling.

“I… you…” Damian was at a loss.

“Are you okay?” Jonathan asked.

“Probably gave the poor boy a concussion,” Lois chided. “You have to stop jumping people like that. It’s like getting hit by a train.”

Damian looked at Dick who was struggling not to laugh. He offered a shrug. “I might’ve buried the lede a little there.”

“The doctor put Jon in the viewing room to give us some more privacy. Be kinda hard to explain why the boy in room 11 keeps spontaneously levitating three feet off the bed in his sleep.”

Jonathan grinned Damian’s way. “You were worried about me, weren’t you?”

Damian scoffed, shoving the other boy away. “Only worried I wouldn’t get to kill you myself for disobeying my direct orders.”

“Orders? Since when were you the boss of me?”

“Since I’m older and more experienced than you. That’s when.”

“That doesn’t even make any sense!”

Dick turned to Lois. “Coffee?” he asked.

“Please.”

Dick and Lois slid past and made their way to the cafeteria as Damian and Jonathan continued to argue in the middle of the hall. Damian would never admit it, but it was the most fun he'd had in quite some time.


End file.
